Living the Legend
Our contributing enthusiasts from around the world share their real-life experiences with their Porsche 911s
Real-world reports from our global collective of 911 owners
Life is starting to get back to normal in the Wilson household. Our house and garage renovations have continued apace over the past month and we now have a new roof and a taller garage. The garage structure is finished but it still has no ceiling or lighting and the walls look like Swiss cheese after various plumbing and electrical incursions. As a result, the 930 has been in offsite storage for the past five weeks at Richmonds (richmonds.com.au) who offer secure storage in addition to buying and selling prestige and classic cars.
So it was with great excitement that a long-planned driving weekend finally arrived and on Friday afternoon I went to retrieve the Porsche from its tricklecharged slumber. On the way in I spied a 997 GT3 RS 4.0 for sale – the first I have ever seen in the flesh and apparently one of only four or five sold in Australia according to Andy Morgan at Richmonds.
The 930 started first turn and it was great to be behind the wheel again, albeit in heavy commuter traffic on the way home. I remembered the steering feel and glorious engine noises but had strangely forgotten all about the crash and bang over bumps. It seems classic car ownership develops a special set of selective senses where the positives drown out the negatives…
The next morning I gave the car a quick wash, loaded up my overnight gear plus camera and headed to the rendezvous point. I stopped just around the corner to check tyre pressures and as I left the service station the car suddenly started misfiring badly. After a few more metres it was barely running and I immediately decided to try and get back home. Seconds later I was coasting and lucky enough to be heading downhill to reach a public car park where I sat and swore!
After checking the usual suspect (fuel pump wiring) it was clear there was no spark and that the 930 wasn’t going on any driving getaway. Some quick calls to my mates, my wife and the RAA followed, with the RAA confirming my ignition diagnosis and arranging a tow truck. I transferred my gear into my Renault RS and belatedly headed off, leaving my wife to await the tow. This took over three hours, so I was unknowingly already in the doghouse as I played catch-up with my driving companions!
The tow truck deposited the Porsche in my neighbour’s driveway and I headed home first thing on Sunday morning to commence diagnosis. After one night the car was a mess and covered in koala and possum poo so I was keen to get it back under cover ASAP. I checked power to the aftermarket MSD ignition, coil continuity/ impedance and distributor pickup impedance and everything was within spec. Then I tested the MSD by shorting
the trigger wires, and as there was no spark I concluded that the MSD had died.
On Monday night (yep, another coating of marsupial excrement!) I loaded the car onto a trailer and took it to my workplace, where we have a small warehouse. Arriving at 9pm I found the driveway blocked by a scissor lift and had no option but to leave the car and trailer in the driveway overnight after adding a padlock to the gate. That night we had torrential rain and the following morning (Tuesday) the car was much cleaner but very soggy and I was able to push it into the warehouse to dry. After work I swapped out the MSD for a standard Bosch CDI unit and replaced the coil, but still no spark.
At this point I admitted defeat and on Wednesday towed it to RSR Sports Cars for Mark Poole to continue the diagnostics. Not a fun weekend, but at least I have reacquainted myself with the 930 and its foibles!